Dear People of the 26 Counties,
You may wonder why Sinn Féin feels aggrieved at not being in government in Dublin, even though 75 per cent of the electorate did not vote for them. Up here, we are used to that sort of thing.
In the last assembly election, 76 per cent did not vote for SF, but they have a legal right to jointly lead Stormont's mandatory coalition. That's because SF (and Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil) oppose voluntary coalition in Belfast, while advocating it in Dublin.
Like yours, our government is controlled by two economically conservative parties (although one becomes left wing across the border) which have an appalling record in housing, health, education and welfare. Like your big two, they represent opposing sides in a civil war and they want to keep power for themselves (sound familiar?)
One third of SF MLAs are unelected and Stormont has no opposition. So we marvel at SF's rallies for democracy.
However, much of the responsibility for creating SF's divine right to govern rests not just with them, but with successive FF and FG governments. They insisted that SF should be in power in Belfast, mainly as a political reward for the IRA ceasefire.
This created SF's sense of entitlement, which often extends into claiming to be victims (as in the current SF rallies). That attitude has now come back to haunt the Dublin establishment, which is being dragged into an argument about the rights of parties, rather than the welfare of people.
We might call this the Stormont disease. We have suffered from its ability to divert us from real politics here for 25 years. FF and FG are already prone to the disease, as evidenced by Leo Varadkar's attack on SF's rallies, which merely enhanced the party's claim to victimhood.
The rallies are clever, Trump-style, populist meetings to control the political agenda. They will make no difference to the lives of those who attend them. SF calls it politics, but it is just political entertainment.
FF and FG insist that SF should be excluded from government in Dublin because it is controlled by the IRA, which still holds weapons. The PSNI and MI5 agree.
If this is true, by sitting on the north's policing board, the IRA-controlled SF governs the police, including the appointment of its chief constable. If that were to happen in Dublin, FF and FG would call it subversion. But when it occurs in Belfast, they call it political progress. (You couldn't make this up.)
And if the IRA still exists, does MI5 still have agents in it? If so, can we assume that MI5 controls/influences the IRA, which controls/influences the PSNI? (Maybe FF does not want MI5 in the Dublin cabinet?)
Of course, Mary Lou says the IRA does not exist. (Did someone say, "Honestly, Mary Lou, we do not exist" and will SF's newly elected TDs now switch from shouting "Up the Ra" to "Up the organisation which doesn't exist"?)
Arguing over whether the IRA is real (no, not the Real IRA) is a bit like arguing about the existence of God: it is difficult to prove and even more difficult to disprove. But if the IRA exists, it raises an interesting point which Gerry Adams has identified.
He contends that during Northern negotiations various Dublin ministers have dealt with the "shadowy figures" whose existence apparently now makes SF unsuitable for government in Dublin. If this is true, FF and FG must stand accused of double standards.
Of course, comparing SF's record in Belfast with its promises in Dublin, suggests that they are pretty good at double standards themselves. So events in the south right now are nothing more than party political posturing, which typifies the Stormont disease.
Until recently, FF and FG were merely carriers of that disease. But they are now infected with it and, dear southern reader, if they do not treat it properly, it will cripple your political system as it so often cripples ours. Forming a government quickly is the only way to stop it.
